Florida Attorney General halts foreclosures from Taylor Bean and Whitaker
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Aug. 24, 2009 – Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation took more action Friday against Ocala-based Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., ordering the company to cease foreclosures, late charges and adverse reports to credit bureaus about customers.
It is state regulators’ second move this month involving the Ocala operation. On Aug. 7, they ordered Taylor Bean to cease mortgage lending activities after federal housing officials announced it was under investigation for possible fraud.
The Ocala company still operates as a holding company for Illinois-based Platinum Community Bank.
Taylor Bean’s mortgage unit is also now under order to move its customers’ existing loans to other mortgage servicers within 60 days. Regulators are holding Taylor Bean accountable for safeguarding customer payments, escrow funds and accounts.
U.S. Treasury agents raided the company’s Ocala offices earlier this month as part of a multi-faceted investigation by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
Earlier this year, Taylor Bean agreed to provide troubled Colonial Bank with a $300 million capital infusion. The deal fell through in late July, and Colonial failed last week. Its deposits, branches and most of its assets were acquired by BB&T Corp. of Winston-Salem, N.C.
Copyright © 2009 The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Richard Burnett. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.